About TREE Fund

Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund) is shaping the future of trees and the arboriculture profession. Science-based tree care enhances the beauty, safety and livability of our communities, and helps to protect the people who care for our urban forest.

TREE Fund awards research grants, education grants, and scholarships to advance the fields of arboriculture and urban forestry. With increased knowledge, arborists and citizens are better equipped to properly care for trees, ensuring that healthy, mature trees will remain an integral part of our communities of the future. TREE Fund’s research priority areas are:

Planting and Establishment–Tree survival and vigorous growth after planting are of concern to arborists and the entire green industry. Arborists are increasingly dealing with problems that originate in, or could be avoided by, the planting process.

Plant Health Care–Healthy plants have more effective defense systems and are better able to resist pests. Complete understanding of plant health may lead to new pest control strategies.

Risk Assessment and Worker Safety–Safety is a major concern. It can be a life-or-death issue to tree workers and the public. Detection of defects and knowing how they develop are important. Improved equipment and work practices are needed.

Urban Forestry–Urban forestry is the careful care and management of urban forests, i.e., tree populations in urban settings for the purpose of improving the urban environment.

Technology Transfer

TREE Fund research shapes industry best practices, improves workforce safety and contributes to the long-term sustainability of our communities in the following crucial ways:

Improving the quality of nursery grown trees and overall tree survival through the development of hardier, drought- and disease-resistant species.

Stopping diseases and pests while reducing pesticide use with the evolution of integrated pest management programs.

Enhancing public and workforce safety with advanced tree risk assessment techniques and greater knowledge about why and how trees fail.

Quantifying the benefits of trees which makes it easier for governments and businesses to project their return on tree care investment.